WHAT THE OLDEST SONG IN THE WORLD SOUNDS LIKE FROM 3400 YEARS AGO
Music has been a global method of expression since ancient times, much as the art produced by early people through pottery and cave paintings. Thankfully, one exceptional piece of music from approximately 1,400 BCE was saved on clay tablets more than 3,400 years ago, but we will probably never get to hear the numerous tunes that have been lost to time. The "Hurrian Hymn No. 6," which is regarded as the oldest playable hymn in the world, was found by archaeologists in the 1950s among the remnants of the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit.
The Hurrian Hymn's words and musical notes are included in the tablets, which are written in Hurrian using Sumerian cuneiform script. However, because the instructions don't specify the exact length and pitch of the notes, unlike contemporary sheet music, nobody can be certain of how the song should sound. Numerous hypotheses regarding the appropriate interpretation of the music have been developed as a result of the experts' intensive study of the tablets. One interpretation, though, appears to be the most credible.
Dr. Richard J. Dumbrill, an archaeomusicologist, provided the interpretation for the Canadian musician Peter Pringle's rendition of "Hurrian Hymn No. 6." He performs the tune in the video above on a long-necked lute that resembles a hybrid of the Persian setar and the Turkish baglama. Pringle admits, "I built this instrument myself as an experiment." "The bass notes are a double course, yet it has four strings." The tuning is F-C-F. This kind of lute has been played in Mesopotamia and Anatolia since the beginning of time.
Additionally, Pringle sampled old pipes and incorporated their sounds into a backdrop music. He says, "The pipes you hear are reproductions of the silver pipes that were found in the 1920s in the Sumerian city of Ur, and they date back 5,000 years." I sampled the pipes and am playing them using a pedal keyboard, which is comparable to the type of pedalboard used by organists, even though they are reed instruments. This is because I am unable to play wind instruments and sing simultaneously.
"The lower register pipe is controlled by my left foot, and the higher register by my right foot." "The method known as 'circular breathing,' which is still utilised today for wind instruments like the Australian didgeridoo and the Armenian duduk, was employed by players of these instruments," Pringle continues.
According to scholars, Nikkal, the ancient Near Eastern goddess of fertility and orchards, was the object of "Hurrian Hymn No. 6." A compelling window into a lost world from thousands of years ago is provided by Pringle's captivating rendition of the oldest song in the world.